, 1887-11-20
THE ASHES OF NAPOLEON /.
The Body Said to be Resting at Chisei-
hurst-Napoleon IIps SuperstItion.

The Body Said to be Resting at Chisei-
hurst-Napoleon Ips Superstition.
France was inta state of intense excite
ment a few days ago, because lie Gaulois
published a few lines to this effect:
1.-THE Tomb of the Invalides is empty.
The remains of the Emperor Napoleon I
have been stolen by sacrilegious hands,
and scattered to the four winds.
How has such a proclamation beer &C
complished? When did it take place?
How has it been p%roven2'
Figaro Immediately replied that the
story was a hoax and related AN inter
view with Gen. Sumpt, governor of the
1nvalides. He has guarded the tomb of
the Emperor for the past nine years and
declares the story false in every detail.
"In the first place, " said the old hero,
before robbers could enter the crypt,
they must nave overthrow a marble bal
ustrade and broken two bronze doors.
The cover of the coffin is porphyry, and
weighs "a, 900 pounds. 1t is fastened by
bronze hinges, and to raise this immense
block at least fifteen workmen would be
obliged to labor for days, not with simple
tools, but with complicated scaffolding,
pulleys, ropes and the like. Since Napo-
leon was buried in the Invalides not q
workman has entered the crypt. Even
during the Commune not an attempt was
made to violate the emperor's tomb.
Napolcon's ashes repose on the banks of
the Seine, in tho midst of the French
people he so much loved"
After this interview the French nation
was satisfied that since May 7, 1861,
when the body of the emperor was placed
in the marble sa~rcophagus, in the presence
of Napoleon III, Prince Jerome and the
dignitarie5 of state, mot a workman had
entered the crypt"
The belief of the French was sadly
shaken when lie Gaulois, not willing to
be accused of hoaxing the public, an
nOunced the existence of documents
proving its statement. A parsonage who
had a conspicuous role in the admins
tration sent this journal the duplicate of
these pit important documents. From
these it is discovered that Napoleon LII
appointed n secret commission, charged
with accounting for the absence of the
ashes of Napoleon 1, at the moment of
opening the coffin in the chapel st.
jerome, and that Marechal Valiant pre-
scented to Napoleon III, April 81, 1851, a
report proving the absence of the ashesi
The Gaulois added that the original copy
Of this confidential affair was placed in
the hands of the grand chancellor of the
Legion of Honor, but, as the archives OF
the chancellerie were burnt during the
Commune, no one had hsard of the mys-
terious documents.
While these searches are made, / re-
member a conversation l had some time
ago with a friend of Emperor Napoleon
". Said he: When the emperor's re-
Aaaa .al.-1I l. -
to Marlborough, you will near something
very curious with reference to the ashes
Of Napoleon l." Then he told me a long
history, pledging me to secrecy until the
proper time should como for the revela-
ton of these facts.
During the last two years of his
reign" said my informant, Napoleon
III became a ~fervent disciple of spiritual
ism. When he first thought of war with
Prussia, he went ~incognito to the Invalides
every day and there invoked the spirit of
the great onqueror When he took
command of his troops, he wished to nave
some tangible relic of his hero beside him,
something that would compel the spirit
of the Napoleon to answer his call. By
stealth, at night, the ashes of Napoleon
were taken from the Invnlides, placed in
a portable box, and Gen. Fleury and l
were the only ones who knew that the
conqueror of Jena accompanied his
nephew i'll all the battles of the Franco
Prussian war. One of the causes of the
disaster at Sedan was the fact that in
moving the emperor's baggage the fetch
had gone astray. Disheartened because
of this calamity, Napoleon surrendered at
once. Afterwards it was found that the
box, so dear to Napoleon III, had passed
the Belgian frontier, and from there was
sent to England. l know it was the en-
peror's wish that this fetch should be
buried beside him, and feel confident that
Napoleon l now lies at Chiselhurst. -
Baroness Althea Salvador's Paris Letter
in New York Mail and Express.